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You may know that Loving the Little Years by Rachel Jankovic was a game-changer sort of book for me as a stay-at-home mom. There are several phrases in that pithy “memos on motherhood” book that still resonate in my head and heart–the chief one being, “the state of your heart is the state of your home.” This morning I finished Jankovic’s follow-up book called Fit to Burst: Abundance, Mayhem, and the Joys of Motherhood.

In full disclosure, I didn’t laugh out loud or underline as much of this second short diatribe on parenting as I did her first. There were a couple of chapters that I didn’t relate to much at all (what book is perfect, right?). But…I closed the book and thought, yes…yes, I can recommend this as a very helpful and encouraging resource to moms in my stage of life with little ones at home.

Fit to Burst really confronted my sin of complaining and attitude of discouragement that inevitably creeps in as a mom. And it gave me a renewed vision for obeying and thanking God for this wonderful job I have been given. If you have small kids at home and spend much of your day doing laundry, wiping noses, dealing with a whiny, insolent kid, etc, then I think much of what Jankovic shares will inspire you to do your job with an attitude of obedience to God and joy before Him.

Here are a few of my favorite quotes that will give you a taste of what to expect in this 120 page book:

“The life of a Christan parent is a life of constant giving, constant, depositing, constant building up a bank account of love and security and trust in the lives of your children. The goal is that your persistent investing in them, bestowing on them, and loving them will be so pervasive in their lives that it will simply become a part of their being.” – p. 36

“God keeps giving me this to do, because this is what He wants me doing. If this is what He wants me doing, then I will do it with my whole being. He gave me the work; I will not back away from it and say it isn’t important. It will not sit on the sidelines of this drill and fuss about it.” – p. 41

“Cheerfully embracing the mundane work in your life, diving into the challenges, working harder than you would think was possible at the little, at the trivial, at the boring–these are all ways to say, “Use me Lord; I am your servant.” – p. 44

“Expect a lot from your children, but never more than you expect of yourself.” – p. 103

“Good leadership is engaged and involved the whole time. It is clear about expectations and consistent about consequences. But good leadership always starts with the leader. It always starts with what you expect of yourself. If you are engaged in disciplining yourself, your children will know. They will mimic that. They will want to follow.” – p. 104

“Gratitude enables us to do our daily work as unto the Lord. It makes the little thing that we do every day an offering to God.” – p. 119